Navratri : Nine foods and Colors for the Nine Days

Navratri, the auspicious festival of Hindu is awaiting at the doorstep. Navaratri is celebrated to worship the nine divine forms of Goddess Durga. We all are just excited to celebrate this festival and make it a memorable one. Hold on! Do you guys actually know the significance of the nine days of Navaratri? Most of us are so busy enjoying and feasting that we actually don’t know its significance. During this nine-day festival, there is a distinct food and colour significance attached to each day of Navaratri. During the festivity, people who are observing fasts are expected to wear a specific colour and likewise, offer a specific food to the deity.The very first day of Navratri is dedicated to Goddess Shailputri, the first form of the Goddess Durga. In this form, people worship Goddess Shailputri as a girl child and the daughter of a mountain. The colour of the first day is Royal Blue. Therefore, devotees are expected to wear royal blue-coloured clothes and offer yellow flower, basil leaves and ghee as bhog to the goddess. You can prepare dishes like aloo ka halwa, rajgira ka ladoo or sabudana khichdi for bhog. Then comes the second day where people worship Goddess Brahmacharini. Yellow is known to be associated with the second day of Navratri and devotees offer sugar as bhog to the Goddess Brahmacharini. You can offer singhare atte ka halwa or kacche kele ki barfi as the bhog to the goddess. The third day of Navratri is dedicated to the Goddess Chandraghanta, the goddess of peace and serenity. It is believed that praying this form of shakti could cure all your problems in life. The colour of this day is Green and devotees offer milk to please the goddess. You can cook elaborate dishes like sabudana kheer or makhana kheer (with dry fruits) for the bhog.Devotees on the fourth day of the festivity worship Goddess Kushmanda. It is believed that observing fast on this day of Navratri could cure all the pain and diseases. Grey colour is associated with the fourth day of Navratri and devotees offer kuttu keatte ka malpua in the form of bhog to the goddess.The fifth day is dedicated to the Goddess Skandamata. Devotees are expected to wear Orange-coloured clothes on Panchami and offer fruits, especially banana, as bhog to the goddess. The best food options include kache kele ki barfi, banana chips (with rock salt), banana walnut lassi and kele ki sabzi. It is the Goddess Katyayani who is worshipped on the sixth day of Navratri.Devotees wear the colour White and offer honey as bhog to please the goddess. You can go a little creative and make your own vrat-friendly honey chilli potatoes for snacks.Seventh day of Navratri is dedicated to the Goddess Kaalratri. Devotees wear Red-coloured clothes and offer jaggery as bhog. You can add jaggery to your vrat-friendly sabudana kheer, kuttu ke atte ka halwa and even in tea.On the eighth day, people worship Goddess Mahagauri. Worshipping this avatar of goddess Durga is said to mitigate all the sins of one’s life. Sky Blue is associated with the eighth day of Navratri and bhog made of coconut is offered to the goddess. You can make coconut barfi as prasad. The last day of Navratri and is dedicated to the Goddess Siddhidatri. Devotees on this day, break their nine-day fast and worship all the nine forms of Goddess Durga. Dishes like halwa, puri and chana are offered to the goddesses as bhog. The colour for the ninth day is Pink.Well, now you know what to wear and what to cook this Navratri to please Goddess Durga. So, go ahead and enjoy it as much as you